title: The physical activity level in children with asthma based on a survey among 7-16 year old school children.
abstract: The objective was to compare the physical activity level of children with asthma with that of non-asthmatic children. A standardized written questionnaire was administered in a survey of school children in three different areas of Norway: Oslo (n = 2577), Hallingdal (n = 831) and Odda (n = 1177). Response rates were > 85% in all areas, and approximately 50% of the respondents were female. No significant differences were found between the distributions in exercise frequency either for children reported ever to have had asthma (P = 0.8) or for those with current asthma (P = 0.3) compared to non-asthmatics. Similar results were found for exercise hours a week. More than 50% of all children took part in organized sport. The data suggest that asthmatic children are as physically active as their peers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health Sciences, National Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. saep@online.no
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nystad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012423:Rural Health; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014504:Urban Health